WI United to Amend: Nine more communities vote to amend the U.S. constitution

Madison, WI (April 4, 2018) – On Tuesday, April 3rd, Wisconsin residents in nine communities voted to amend the U.S. Constitution to clarify that only human beings should have inalienable human rights and money is not the same thing as free speech.

All referenda passed with overwhelming majorities: Green County (78%), St. Croix County (77%), the cities of La Crosse (88%), Marshfield (81%), Sun Prairie (83%), Rice Lake (81%), the villages of McFarland (79%) and Wittenberg (83%), and the town of Sand Creek (77%) in Dunn County.

That brings the total to 129 Wisconsin communities that have called for an amendment. In total, about three million people (52% of Wisconsinites) live in these jurisdictions. Across the country, 19 state legislatures have voted for an amendment, as well as over 770 towns, villages, cities and counties.

Pam Knudtson from La Crosse United to Amend, a local nonpartisan group said: “I sincerely hope that the wide margins of voter support seen over and over again in these referendums, and the strong Resolutions of support passed by municipalities like La Crosse, will start to motivate our elected representatives across the state. Voters of both parties, and independents, want them to move beyond their partisan issues and put this issue to a vote through a non-binding statewide referendum.”

Jeanette Kelty, a leader in Green County, said: “These referenda consistently pass with amazingly high margins. This clearly demonstrates the will of the people. It is time for our state representatives to put this resolution to a statewide vote, and to move towards sending a resolution from Wisconsin to the U.S. Congress.”

Resolutions calling for a statewide Citizens United advisory referendum have been introduced into the state legislature in every session since 2013. The referendum would ask voters if they support allowing individuals and corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns. For more information, see press release.

Gerry Lisi, a resident of Rice Lake, explained that: “We need limits on how much money can be contributed and spent on political races. Only people have a constitutional right to free speech. Money is not ‘political speech’ under the First Amendment.”

Four in five Americans oppose the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision, according to a Bloomberg poll. A New York Times/CBS poll found that 85 percent of Americans—including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—believe we need fundamental changes to our campaign finance system or to completely rebuild it.

Matt Rothschild, executive director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, summed it up succinctly: “People across the ideological spectrum get it: All of our voices are being drowned out by those with big money.”

United To Amend is a non-partisan, grassroots movement.
For more information visit UnitedToAmend.org